Thank you again to all those you helped to contribute to our Optimist Trivia Night. We are pleased to say that we met our financial goal—raising (gross proceeds) just over $11,000. A full report will be shared with the board on March 14, and then will be given to the full membership. In the meantime, the Student Interns and Student Optimists will continue to work on thank you notes.

Our intern Anne is working hard at posting photos and information on FaceBook and on the web site on a regular basis.

Our intern Kayla is almost done designing the Easter Egg Hunt flyer and those will be distributed to the elementary schools in the near future.

This week’s meeting will be held on Tuesday evening from 5:00pm-6:00pm at Jessica’s. Dave will be leading the meeting, and our guest speakers will be UW-W Wheelchair basketball coaches Jeremy “Opie” Lade and Christina Schwab.

We do not have a Club meeting this week. The Board will meet this Wednesday (Feb. 15) from 5-6pm at Jessica’s. Please let me know if you can not be there. We have a couple of important items to discuss, including the requests for the City-Wide Rummage Sale and a proposal for help with the Gyro Stand.

Here are our speakers for upcoming meetings:

February 21–Brenda O’Beirne, Counselor Ed Dept. Award

February 28–Jeremy Lade & Christina Schwab, Wheelchair Basketball

March 7–Jan Bilgen, Campus Memory Garden

The Club clothing order is in. Thank you to Jenny for organizing it so quickly. Please make sure you get your money to Jenny or me. Right now, I have the running list.

Lastly, it looks like we are going to have a beautiful day for the 4th Annual Optimist Trivia Night this Friday. Thank you to all who are contributing to the efforts. We are very pleased to have 30 teams signed up for the event. If you are willing to help set up for the event or to volunteer a few hours during the evening, it’s not too late to sign up. Please contact Lanora or me.

I know this note is reaching you later than usual. I hope many of you enjoyed the exciting events of Super Bowl LI.

Here are some Optimist updates for this week:

Our Club meeting is tomorrow at 12:00pm in UC 266 with Josh Duesterbeck from Thrivent Financial serving as our guest speaker. He has some interesting information regarding ways of partnering with community organizations.

Please see the list of speakers that Dave has shared for the next month:

Jenny is trying to finalize a first-round clothing order for Club members. She has 13 folks on the list and is planning to place the order very soon so that we have the items here in time for Trivia Night. If you ordered an item, please bing your money to the Club meeting, or get it to Jenny, Kate or Kim within the next 10 days.

Next week, we do not have a Club meeting. The board will meet from 5:00pm – 6:00pm at Jessica’s on Wednesday, February 15. Brandon and Kim will share updates regarding where we are at with the Club Policies project (3 sections will be shared). It will also be good to touch base on the Easter Egg Hunt, Fishing Derby and the Gyro Stand. Also, we have had some folks in the community asking about the Optimist/City-Wide Rummage Sale. We will add this item to agenda to confirm our decision.

Lastly, we could still use some help with Optimist Trivia Night on Friday, February 17. Please email Lanora or Kim if you are able to volunteer a few hours during the evening. We have 30 teams signed up and lots of great Silent Auction items. Our goal is to raise $11,000–and it seems reasonable to reach our goal (based on number of participants and items available). Now, we just need the helpers! Please double-check your availability. Thanks so much!

Late last week was International Optimist Day. Thank you for all the ways you serve our community as Optimists and engaged citizens. Your commitment to serving our youth and local/regional community is greatly appreciated.

1) This Tuesday’s meeting will be held at Jessica’s Restaurant, starting at 5pm. Marie Koch (Chamber Director) will be our guest speaker. We will also chat about Trivia Night, the Easter Egg Hunt, and the Gyro Stand. We hope you can join us.

2) We will also have a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 12:00pm in UC 259B (next to where we usually meet). This was not originally on our calendars. Dave is waiting for a confirmation on our guest speaker. Catering will be provided, and we will recognize Youths of the Month from the Middle School.

3) Lanora has sent out the sign up list for Trivia Night. We are three weeks away from hosting the event. There are many slots that need to be filled yet. Please check your schedules and sign up if at all possible. Our goal is to raise $11,000. We need many hands to help make this happen. We could also use help with food contributions for the volunteer room at Trivia Night, gift cards and other items for the silent auction, and extra clothes baskets/wicker baskets for the silent auction. Please contact Kim if you are able to assist. Jan has sent out a note to team captains for Trivia Night. We welcome your assistance in helping to recruit teams for the event.

4) We will be organizing the Optimist Storage Room on Tuesday, Jan. 31 from 4:30pm – 6:00pm in Starin Hall. If you are able to help out, please contact Kim (we will need to let people into the hallway area).

5) Please remember to complete the Optimist meeting survey that Brandon Lindhom sent out this past Tuesday. It takes less than a minute to complete. Your feedback is important to us.

Wow–what a successful Breakfast with Santa event! Angie and I do not know where to begin with our thanks! Please accept our heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped to plan, arrange and order items, manage the sign up sheet, promote, decorate, cook, staff, play Santa–Mrs. Claus–Frosty–or an elf, pay for items, and clean up for the event, as well as other tasks in-between! It was great to see so many folks (including children of members, UW-W Student Optimists, and Octagon Optimists) helping to ensure that the event was a success. The parade helpers (Student Optimists, Intern Brandon and Frosty) are greatly appreciated, as well.

I know we lost a number of our workers by the time we got around to taking the group photo–but it’s still an impressive group. We will post more photos on the Web site this coming week. Our numbers included serving 760 guests for the breakfast. My best guess is that we took nearly 2000 photos (including candids and 2-4 photos per family– depending on their situation). We were also about 8-10 goodie bags short for our last few Santa seekers. I will share some photos and other updates at our meeting on Tuesday.

Thank you to those who scooted over to Perkins Stadium to take tickets for the Warhawks’ football playoff game. It was disappointing for the Warhawks to not come out on top again, but we are grateful for a successful season. It was a fun run for our Hawks in 2016!

Please note these additional tidbits:

1) Dues were due by December 1. Some members still need to pay for the quarter or year. Our Club’s budget is counting on folks to pay soon in order to balance our budget and to carry out the many activities for youth in our community. Please connect with Kate or Ken for paying dues–and THANK YOU! We will review our progress at our next Board meeting.

2) Caroling at Fairhaven is scheduled for Friday, December 9. Please email Kim if you are planning to be a part of spreading holiday cheer. We will meet in the lobby of Fairhave at 4:15pm to begin warming up our voices! We will be done caroling by 6:00pm.

3) “Gifts with a meaning” and the mitten tree will take place at our noon meeting on December 13. You are encouraged to bring hats, mittens, gloves, scarves, children’s underwear or socks for the mitten tree presentation. You are also invited to bring a gift that represents you–your interests or hobbies (e.g. music, sports, playing games, books, gardening, animals, etc.). Participating members will guess who brought which gift. We then bag up the gifts and they will be contributed to the toy wrapping activity for the Whitewater Food Pantry on December 19.

4) Our next Executive Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 14 from 5:00pm – 6:00pm at Second Salem. Board members, please let us know if you can not attend this meeting.

5) Our last meeting of the semester will be December 20​. Our next meeting (in the New Year) will be Tuesday, January 3 at noon in UC 69. There will not be a catered meal for this meeting.

Tuesday, October 18 there is a Noon meeting in UC 259A. Our speaker is Angela Meldonian. She will be talking about new features in UW-W Dining Services, including the new Food Truck coming to campus. This is a catered lunch where we will be honoring youths of the month.

The Student Optimists are preparing for Homecoming next Saturday, October 22. They are in need of a vehicle and driver to pull their float. If you are able to assist, please email Kim at adamsk@uww.edu or call at 608.201.2151.

Tuesday, October 25 from 5:30pm – 8:00pm, Kim and Angie will be hosting a “Spooktacular Halloween Potluck Dinner.” We are planning to provide the main entrée and beverages. Please plan on bringing a dish to pass. Please RSVP by October 22. (Details are on the attached flyer.)

Attention Optimist Board Members – Mark Your Calendars: We have a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, October 19, 5pm-6pm at Jessica’s Restaurant. As always, we have a full agenda and your voice and support are needed for the conversation.

Final details for Youth Appreciation Week will follow soon in an email.

Finally, keep your eyes and ears open for Football Playoff ticket-taking information. We are hopeful that we will be needed at the gates for post-season play!

Our Installation Banquet this past Monday was great fun! Thanks to Rick & Jeanine Fassl for hosting. Thanks to Kim Adams, Angie Alesci, Brandon Lindholm and Rachel Sullivan for assisting Rick and Jeanine with decorating. Thanks to everyone who donated food and beverages. I was very content ath the end of the evening, having consumed my yearly quota of Optimist Club gyros.

Welcome to our three newest club members who were inducted at Monday’s Installation Banquet, Stephanie & Cort Hartmann and Chloe Rettinger. We look forward to your efforts helping us in our quest to help and serve the youth of Whitewater.

Our next general member meeting will be Tuesday, October 4, 2016. This meeting will be “bring your own lunch.” Our speaker will be Warhawk Football Head Coach Kevin Bullis. Hope to see many of you there.

Current events needing helpers:

Warhawk Football Ticket Taking. There are still a few time slots (two?) needing workers. Check the Google spreadsheet, “2016 Football Ticket Taking,” for the last few remaining slots. Hopefully, you can use the link in the spreadsheet title in the previous sentence to edit the spreadsheet and add you name in the appropriate cells. If you have trouble entering your name, let me know and I’ll help.

*** Do you have a topic you would like to present to the club? Do you know someone who could speak to the club? Job related? Travel related? Sports related? Youth related? Let me know if you, or someone you know, would like to present. See the dates below where we need speakers. ***

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events:

September 30, 5:00pm. 2016-17 Exec Board meeting.

October 4, 12:00pm, speaker will be Kevin Bullis, Warhawk Football coach.

October 8 & 22; football ticket taking

October 11, Exec Board meeting.

October 18, 12:00pm, speaker TBD.

October 25, Halloween Social hosted by Kim Adams and Angie Alesci

November 1, 12:00pm, speaker TBD

November 5; Football ticket taking.

November 7, Exec Board meeting. (New date to avoid conflict with the Presidential election on November 8)

I want to close with a heartfelt “THANK YOU” to each and every one of you for your support of the club over the past two years while I’ve been president. I was nervous when I first assumed the role, but quickly learned, and appreciated, that everyone in the club is indeed an “Optimist” and was willing and able to help out in the various events that keep us going and support the youth of Whitewater. I look forward to working with the new exec board, and all of you, in the next Optimist Year. IT’S BEEN A HOOT!!

Our next general member meeting will be tomorrow, Tuesday, September 20, 2016. The meeting will feature “Youth of the Month” with catered lunch at $7 for each club member. Speakers will be Mark Elworthy (New School District Administrator) and Nathan Jaeger (Business Manager) regarding the upcoming Whitewater Unified School District referendum.

I’ll be bringing a guest/potential new member to our September 20 meeting. Will anyone else bring a guest? Let me know for catering purposes.

Planning for our installation banquet on Monday, September 26, 2016, is progressing. One thing to share/remind everyone who submitted their RSVP, we want the event to be fun and encourage you to wear beach-type attire. It will be a fun evening of celebration of the 2015-16 year and looking forward to the 2016-17 year.

The August 2016 Exec Board minutes have been uploaded to the web site.

The Trivia Night 2016 committee continues to meet regularly.

Current events needing helpers:

Warhawk Football Ticket Taking. There are still a few time slots (two?) needing workers. Check the Google spreadsheet, “2016 Football Ticket Taking,” for the last few remaining slots. Hopefully, you can use the link in the spreadsheet title in the previous sentence to edit the spreadsheet and add you name in the appropriate cells. If you have trouble entering your name, let me know and I’ll help.

*** Do you have a topic you would like to present to the club? Do you know someone who could speak to the club? Job related? Travel related? Sports related? Youth related? Let me know if you, or someone you know, would like to present. See the dates below where we need speakers. ***

Dates for upcoming club meetings and events:

September 20, 12:00pm, speakers will be Mark Elworthy (New School District Administrator) and Nathan Jaeger (Business Manager) re: the upcoming school district referendum.

September 24, football ticket taking

September 26; Installation Banquet hosted by Jeanine and Rick Fassl.

October 4, 12:00pm, speaker will be Kevin Bullis, Warhawk Football coach.

October 8 & 22; football ticket taking

October 11, Exec Board meeting.

October 18, 12:00pm, speaker TBD.

October 25, 5:00 pm. Speaker TBD.

November 1, 12:00pm, speaker TBD

November 5; Football ticket taking

November 7, Exec Board meeting. (New date to avoid conflict with the Presidential election on November 8)